Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota
Oglala Lakota County, known as Shannon County until May 2015, is a county located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. The population was 13,586 at the 2010 census. Oglala Lakota County does not have its own county seat. Instead, Hot Springs in neighboring Fall River County serves as its administrative center. The county was created as a part of the Dakota Territory in 1875, although it remains unorganized. Its largest community is Pine Ridge. The county is entirely within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and contains part of Badlands National Park. It is one of five South Dakota counties entirely on an Indian reservation. (The others are Corson, Dewey, Todd, and Ziebach.) The county is named after the Oglala Lakota, a band of the Lakota people. Many of the county's inhabitants are members of this sub-tribe. The county's per-capita income makes it the poorest county in the United States.United States counties by per capita income It is the only dry county in South Dakota. The newspaper for Oglala Lakota County is The Lakota Country Times. History The place of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre is located in Oglala Lakota County. The county was originally named for Peter C. Shannon, Chief Justice of the Dakota Territory Supreme Court. Until 1982, Shannon County and Washabaugh County, South Dakota, were the last unorganized counties in the United States. Although it was organized and received a home rule charter that year, the county, as noted above, contracts with Fall River County for its Auditor, Treasurer, and Registrar of Deeds. On November 4, 2014, voters in the county voted by a margin of 2,161 to 526 to rename Shannon County to Oglala Lakota County.David Montgomery, "Shannon County no more: Voters approve name change", Argus Leader, November 5, 2014. The name change was ratified by the state legislature on March 5, 2015. May 1, 2015 was proclaimed by the governor as the official day for renaming the county. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.1%) is water. The county includes the headwaters of the Little White River. Major highways * U.S. Highway 18 * South Dakota Highway 40 * South Dakota Highway 391 * South Dakota Highway 407 Adjacent counties * Pennington County, South Dakota - north * Jackson County, South Dakota - northeast * Bennett County, South Dakota - east * Sheridan County, Nebraska - south * Dawes County, Nebraska - southwest * Fall River County, South Dakota - west * Custer County, South Dakota - northwest National protected area * Badlands National Park (part) Demographics |align-fn=center |footnote=U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2016 }} As of the census of 2000, there were 12,466 people, 2,785 households, and 2,353 families residing in the county. The population density was 6 people per square mile (2/km²). There were 3,123 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile (1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 4.51% White, 0.08% Black or African American, 94.20% Native American, 0.02% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.22% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.42% of the population. There are 2,785 households out of which 51.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.40% were married couples living together, 36.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.50% were non-families. 13.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.00% have someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.36 and the average family size was 4.72. In the county, the population was spread out with 45.30% under the age of 18, 10.60% from 18 to 24, 25.60% from 25 to 44, 13.80% from 45 to 64, and 4.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 21 years. For every 100 females there were 99.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.60 males. The median income for a household in the county was $20,916, and the median income for a family was $20,897. Males had a median income of $25,170 versus $22,594 for females. The per capita income for the county was $6,286. About 45.10% of families and 52.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 60.80% of those under age 18 and 36.00% of those age 65 or over. A 2017 study ranked the county's average life expectancy (66 years) as the lowest of any county in the United States. Politics The counties surrounding Oglala Lakota County are predominantly Republican, but, like most Native American counties, Oglala Lakota is heavily Democratic, giving over 75 percent of the vote to every Democratic presidential nominee in every election back to 1984, making it one of the most Democratic counties in the United States. No Republican has carried the county in a presidential election since 1952. Communities Town *Batesland Census-designated places *Kyle *Manderson-White Horse Creek *Oglala *Pine Ridge *Porcupine *Wounded Knee Unincorporated community *Red Shirt Townships The county is divided into two areas of unorganized territory: East Shannon and West Shannon. See also *National Register of Historic Places listings in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota References External links * Oglala Lakota County Government Site Category:Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota Category:1875 establishments in Dakota Territory Category:Settlements established in 1875